Father Jose George Kochuparambil, O.S.J. (known as “Father Johnson”) was born on May 30, 1964 to George & Elizabeth Kochuparambil of Panangad (Kerala), India. He received his early education at the local Catholic schools and then began university studies at Saint Paul’s College, Kalamassery, India. Upon deciding to enter the Congregation of the Oblates of Saint Joseph, he went to Italy in 1984 to enter the novitiate in Este (Padua), Italy. He remained in Italy for the next seven years completing his philosophical and theological studies at the Roman Pontifical Universities of the Urbaniana and St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). He professed his perpetual vows in the Order on September 24, 1989 and was ordained an Oblate of St. Joseph priest on December 22, 1991. He later pursued additional studies at the University of Bombay, receiving a Master of Arts in Sociology.

During his priesthood, Father Johnson has served in various capacities in India: seminary rector, prefect of students, assistant pastor, pastor, university lecturer and confessor to various religious institutes.

In preparation for his arrival in the United States, Father Johnson worked as an Oblate priest in 2003-04 at various Oblate-staffed parishes in Italy, specifically on the island of Sardegna. After fulfilling all requirements for immigration and naturalization by the U.S. Government, he arrived in Pittston, Pennsylvania on September 1, 2004, where he has been serving as the assistant pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and as a member of the Our Lady of Sorrows (Pennsylvania) Province of the Oblates of St. Joseph.